Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-03-04
BY MARION HA2LAND.
Copyright, 1887, by the Author.
Feeding the Baby.

The proper food for the young of the
human species is the mothers milk.
That reads like platitude not worth
printing In reality the force of it is so
often vltiated by the practice of mothers
and nurses that it cannot be pressed
home too forcioly. Yet obstacles to
nursing ones own child confront the
new mother more frequently than one
might suppose who nss only studied
theoretically the PRINCIPLES which lead
the wisest thinkers to formulate the
truism just given.
! Some babies display a singular aver
| sion to taking the mothers milk. | have
seen q child less than twenty-tour hours
| old refuse to close his lips on the nipple,
| scream and struggle as with mortal pain
whenever the attempt was made to teach
/ him TO do it. continuing the fight until
/ the mother WAS exhausted and the nurse
distracted between dread of injury to the
patient on the one hand and to the re-
calcitrant infant on the other. 1t is more
common for older babies to take whlm-
steal dislike TO one breast and stubJornly
| reject it until serious consequences 20 the
mother ensue. Instances are abundant
of children who wean themselves for no
apparent reason Undoubtedly some
cause does exist besides the caprice of
the diminutiye 6utocrat, although the
effort to divine it is mere guess WORK.
AS rule, he will suCcumb at length to
| judiciOus measures richly followed cut.
Should the child resist from the first, the
nurse is generally to blame when the de-
cision is reached that recourse to arti-
Tot Ioh
stands, far better than does the feeble,
inexperienced woman in her charge, what
may hang upon the result of
the struggle. Firm, gentle per-
sistence in the task of inducing
the little one to take what he is dis
posed TO reject, and cheerful reinsurance
of the hysIerical parent, terrlaed and
hurt that her baby should refuse her milk,
will, in most cases, carry the day, pro-
vided both the parties most interested
are in toIerable physical condition
With very fragile children, the nourish-
ment NAV be pumped from the breast
and administered a little at time, until
they are strong enough to draw it for
themselves. But these are, happily,
extreme cases.
Occasionally We are told of babies who
chad to be weaned because their mothers
milk did not agree with them" Violent
colo, nausea or intestinal disorders are
considered unfailing indices of this lido
syncrssy. No one except q prudent and
skillful physician should take the respon-
sibility Of advising so serious q step as
change of food in these circumstances,
however imminent the necessity may
seem to the unprofessional observer.
The only lawful impeachment to the non
fultiIlment of this sacred maternal duty
is the presence of actual organic disease
in the mother. When nursing the baby
endangers her own life and that of the
helpless little thing who should take in
strength, not the seeds Of mortal malady
from her, the alternative is positive. The
child must be broughtup on the bottle or
be consigned to wet nurse. This last
word opens into a field too broad, too
full of tragedy and of comedy to be ex-
ploded now. Some day when time,
breath and Christian meekness are vouch- |
Safed to US in bountiful measure we may
venture within the bOundaries.)
Many babies 1.-TWO years ego, l would |
have written, an immense majority of
them) thrive on a mixture of two-thirds |
boiling water, One-third fresh, sweet, IN
skinned cows mil lightly sWeetened
and given rather more than blood-warm, |
until the infant is six months old, or be
gins to teeth. With the progress of den
tition aud the hardening of the bones,
most children need "stroDger" nutri- |
ment-something that contains more
muscle-and- bone-making elements than
even the milk of healthy mother. Ma !
ture indicates this want in more than one |
waY-notably in the inferior quality of !
the nOurishmept secreted for the child's |
use As he becomes robust and has |
cravings for more and richer aliment |
the supply diminisheS and becomes poor |
and watery. The mother, conscientious !
in her resolutions to bring up her infant |
according to natural laws, sees him pine [
aud pale while fretful restlessness robs |
him eff the laurels now Gas the best-be- |
haved baby in Christendom." While the |
flow of milk may seem as full as ever and |
he takes it even more greedily, he is hun
cry all the time and proClAims his evil |
case in the only speech he cen command |
He is the paragon of mortal cherubs, but |
he cannot be merry when half-starved. /
Most CT the blame is laid on the ever-con- |
venient teeth, the sprouting OF which |
silently designates the real nature of the I
worthless angels discomfort.
So fer as my personal knowledge OF the |
properties cid effects Of the executing !
great army OF substitutes and supple |
meats goes, unhesitatiEgly recommend |
Carnrick's Soluble Food There may be
others as excellent, but have not met
with them, and | have made trial of
many The Soluble Food is nutritious,
palstable, easily prepared and rich in
phOsphates and other strengthening in
gradients. l should not speak thus plain.
ly had l not had cogent reasons for be.
lieving in it.
Cows milk, even when diluted with
boiling water, does not agree with re-
spectacle minority OF babies, rating re-
spectsbiity according TO numbers. The
discovery appalls the mother with an i'm
preston Of utter hopelessness. 1t is g
sort Of violent removal Of land marks.
Upon what can he subsist if not on the
''sweet white nourishment" ordained of
the Lord for infant mammals? In the
emergency, the knowledge that others
hive tested and proved the value Of an
article of infants diet which will keep the
nur>eliDg alive and well, is boon which
l, for one, have not the heart or con-
science TO withhold.
Do not give farinaceous food-cerealS,
arrow-roo, etc.-until the baby shows
signs of "drolling," or watering at the
the hsrbinger of de0tition. Up
to that time the saliva, which is the indis-
penseble factor in diges:ing such food, is
lacking. The practice Of thrusting linen
bsglets of crumbs or boiled rice, mixed
with sugar, sometimes with butter, and
dipped in milk, into the gaping little
mouth, of giving crusts and crackers to
be mumbled over by the toothless gums
is as peInicious as it is disgusting.
This brings me to speak briefly of an
important head of this subject-regu-
larity in the times of feeding. The diff
ference between the "good" and the